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Lamb to the Slaughter By Roald Dahl Essay

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Lamb to the Slaughter By Roald Dahl

In Roald Dahl’s short story “Lamb to the slaughter,” the behaviour of the characters makes us shiver.

The story starts off with Mary Maloney‘s husband walking in from work and sitting down in the armchair. She then made him a drink and asked him he was tired. She then asked him if he wanted supper but he said no. later he said he had something important to say and for a few moments she stood shocked. She went to get the supper out any way but when she came back up he was standing next to the window, she then smacked him round the back of the head smashing his scull. She acted normally as not arouse suspicion. She went to the shop and then went home and called the police. They came round …show more content…

My first impressions of Patrick Maloney, the husband, were not as I expected them to be. From what I saw of the wife I expected Patrick to be a kind gentle man who loves every second with his wife, only to find out he is not. As soon as he gets in is to the chair and drinking a glass of whiskey “…Then she walked over and made the drinks, a strongish one for him, a weak one for herself; and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he in the other, opposite…”
This gives the impression that he works hard but probable to hard because he comes home tired and doesn’t want to eat. “Yes,” he said.
“I’m tired,” And as he spoke, he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow.” When he tells her of what I think is him planning on leaving her I began to think of him as a horrible man. “This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I’m afraid,” he said. “But I’ve thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won’t blame me too much.”

Later when I learnt of Mary’s real personality I was shocked that she was able to commit murder. Her first reaction after the murder was what happened to her unborn child. This to me was quite odd because she had just killed her husband and wasn’t worried about her own life but that of her child. “On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children?

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